Font Size

SCREEN

Family Life

In this section we will look at Jelibeans through the years, starting off course with jelibabies! Bear with us as we will be adding articles regularly. Jeliteens will be the next article coming soon! What is it like for families? How do siblings cope? Rivalry? If you have any topic you would like covered, please contact us and we will do our best.

Having had 5 jelibabies of my own I feel quite well qualified to speak! A jelibaby is pretty easy to spot if you know what you are looking for!So here we go. You may already be asking questions but you may not be sure why. Having a baby for the first time in particular is pretty overwhelming. None of us are trained for full time child care so most of us hit the ground running without any clue of what to expect.Jelibabies are born jelibabies. Jelibean believe that the genetic link is very powerful and recent research strongly supports this. So if you think you may have a jelibaby, please remember it takes a jelibean to make one! Who else in your family has colourful streaks of eccentricity? Maybe it is you, maybe you and dad, or perhaps Auntie Molly with the clicky hip that collects porcelain pigs?

So your bundle of joy is lying next to you at last! The hard part of delivery is over – or so you think! So how comes many of us are completely shattered and exhausted with demanding babies? Does everyone go through this? Often parents notice that their potential jelibabies are either highly active and demanding or floppy and happy to spend hours staring at their mobiles. Many are demanding constant feeders who when they don’t have a teat/nipple in their mouths they require a dummy to suck on. Many mum’s find the demands of breastfeeding simply too exhausting and have to supplement or convert to bottled milk early on. Either that or they end up with an apparently ‘hungry’ child permanently attached to them as I can remember very well! Or on the other hand maybe your baby is a poor feeder who struggled to put on weight? Maybe someone has mentioned ‘failure to thrive’? Colic and constipation appear to be common in jelibabies and I for one can vouch that all mine suffered with this awful condition. I remember having a bottle of gripe water in every room together with colic crystals bought at the chemist. With the continual feeders, it is an ever decreasing circle of anxiety and pain. Feeding constantly will lead to colic and constipation. My youngest son went through 9 bottles in the night alone! We lined them up for him as soon as he was old enough to reach through the cot bars to get them. It was exhausting. Maybe your baby is lazy and will quite happily lie for ages in their cots/prams just staring into space or at the mobile above them? Or on the contrary your baby is constantly needy and demanding, preferring to be cuddled and in your company 24/7. Sleeping patterns vary hugely. Some parents say their babies were model babies and slept through the night from the first night whilst others report their babies NEVER sleep taking hours to settle for short periods only. My babies were particularly demanding and cried a lot. I could never leave them alone as they wanted to be attached in a sling on me constantly. Some parents however report their babies as being happy and contented needing less attention. If your baby is indeed a jelibaby, it is very likely that they will experience certain sensory differences from a very early age. Here are a few pointers to give you some ideas. Does the cot, pram need to be shaded as baby doesn’t like bright light?Is your baby always scratching and you needed to use scratch mitts?What effect does loud noise have? Do they scream and cry or just go back to sleep?Can your baby tolerate any fabric or do they become distressed if you need to dress them? Are they more settled in just a vest?Does your baby enjoy to be cuddled or did they cry when handled?Is your jelibaby a ‘warm’ baby or a ‘cold’ baby? Extremes in temperature are often seen in jelibabies.Does your baby hate solids, preferring only smooth deserts or milk?And what about - developmental milestones, that doctors and health visitors are always talking about? When did your baby hold their head up unsupported? Sit up, crawl, stand and walk? What about communication, what age did your jelibaby start talking? Were they early or delayed? Think back as it is all relevant. Do/did you always have to be on hand to entertain your jelibaby or did you have to rock the pram continually whilst cooking dinner for the rest of the family? Was your baby easy to placate or did it take hours to settle them down? And bath times, how are those? A nightmare as your baby hates water or the opposite the bath seems to be their favourite place! I remember the beauty of car seats, driving around the neighbourhood at 3am with a baby in the back of the car was normal practice for me, the sound, motion and sensation gently rocked them off to sleep. It was only when we stopped that they woke up!So if you are finding that you are nodding your head at this article then maybe just maybe you could have a jelibaby too. Welcome to the tribe, let us help you through the various stages as best we can. Yes life can be a bit tricky with a jelibaby but it’s worth every second of the love that you can give because each jelibaby is as unique as the next with gifts a plenty to offer back.